Management of pet excretions is important for health and comfort of a pet and for people in contact with the pet. Pet excrement can harbor such diseases as toxoplasmosis. Pets are beneficial to all aspects of society, especially elderly and children, two groups of people who many find it difficult to handle heavy bags of litter and may be at risk from disease carried by pet excrement.
To manage soiled litter, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,932 shows a relief station for cats having a raised floor, storage for litter (sand) above the floor, a receptacle placed below a normally closed floor opening, and means for opening the opening when the cat leaves the station. This requires the cat to enter from the front and step on a treadmill to activate the system and for the cat to eliminate over a small hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,086, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a litter box having a hopper fitted with a rotating slotted tube to dispense litter onto a shutter surface, which opens by electronic circuitry after the cat leaves the surface and requires location near an outlet. Further, some pets such as rabbits are prone to chew on cords and thus be endangered.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,018, discloses a pet relief station with a hopper which dispenses a continuous stream of litter onto a plastic sheet attached at either end to a takeup and feed roll. The station has a housing which provides effective control of scattered litter. However, the station is complicated to clean and uses a motor to activate the rollers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,288 discloses a hopper and a treadle mechanism which removes the lower strata of clumped litter. This does not provide for complete removal of waste and requires a complex mechanical system that could conceivably catch on a digging cat's paws.
There exists a need for a safe, sanitary, easily manufactured and operated pet sanitation station.